Today I spent the afternoon bumming around outside enjoying the fresh air. A friend and I went to Quarry Park in Waite Park. The quarry ponds had ice. I pushed on the ice with my cane and loosed some up around the edges. Some of the ice broke into long flattened shards. I pushed so 6 foot plates of ice temporarily submerged and popped up again. We threw chunks of granite from the grote pile onto the ice taking bets which chunks would break through. We both overestimated our ice breaking abilities. So if you go up there and see a bunch of granite rocks on top of the ice in the quarry, that was us. As we walked around playing with the ice, a large garter snake moved away from us. I'm sure it saw us long before we saw it. It was a big one - at least 20 inches, maybe two feet in length. It had been warming itself on the sunny granite shelf until we disturbed it. I usually scream when I see snakes. This time I didn't. Maybe because 
my friend said, "There is a snake," instead of my seeing it slither in the corner of my eye. We saw quite a few black bugs swimming under the ice. I disturbed the leaves under the ice with my cane and the bugs came swimming out. One bug got on top of the ice and moved about in such a panic that I submerged the ice floe with my cane so it could swim down again. I saw a rose breasted grosbeak singing on a cable next to the grote pile. We drove down to a restaurant on the banks of the Sauk River. The river came right up to the edge of the building. We saw some flooding. Part of the parking lot was under water. An antique car and an old tractor looked like they were parked out in the river. A clever sign said, "Overflow Parking." Wish I had brought my camera. On the way back I stopped at Fleet Farm. I bought an owl call. I tried it out in the car. I couldn't get it to work at all unless I breathed in rather than out. Then I tried putting the other end in my mouth. Worked much better. I think I will keep it in my bedroom. This summer when I hear the barred owls calling, I will join in the chorus. It will be fun to talk with the owls.
my friend said, "There is a snake," instead of my seeing it slither in the corner of my eye. We saw quite a few black bugs swimming under the ice. I disturbed the leaves under the ice with my cane and the bugs came swimming out. One bug got on top of the ice and moved about in such a panic that I submerged the ice floe with my cane so it could swim down again. I saw a rose breasted grosbeak singing on a cable next to the grote pile. We drove down to a restaurant on the banks of the Sauk River. The river came right up to the edge of the building. We saw some flooding. Part of the parking lot was under water. An antique car and an old tractor looked like they were parked out in the river. A clever sign said, "Overflow Parking." Wish I had brought my camera. On the way back I stopped at Fleet Farm. I bought an owl call. I tried it out in the car. I couldn't get it to work at all unless I breathed in rather than out. Then I tried putting the other end in my mouth. Worked much better. I think I will keep it in my bedroom. This summer when I hear the barred owls calling, I will join in the chorus. It will be fun to talk with the owls.
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